us vs. japan drifting

[childprodigy_89]

does anyone notice that drifting on downhills or toegei 's and drifting on actual race tracks look alot more fun to drive on than the temporary cources set up in a huge oval track????? i mean its like a giant parking lot race. i dont think its that hard to book an actual road track like laguna seca or road atlanta or something. or.....it could be just me

[Wickdmarz]

It kinda is...they're worried about it being ruined by dirt being grinded into the asphault. Or that was the excuse at Buttonwillow, they need to protect the gripiness of the track for other racing. So most will think it'll get ruin. Plus it's a shiit load of money to get the insurance and track rented.

[HX-50]

Also with temporary courses you can pretty much set up whatever you want to set up, this allows a great deal of flexability.

[childprodigy_89]

it is more flexible but i bought the dvd by option for the 2004 D1 grand prix and i was kinda disappointed by the course. i mean it was on a biggass oval track with cones set up. but even worse than a bunch of cones for a track was the lack of turns, the so called "course" was at most like 5-6 turns long. whereas if it were on an actual racetrack there would be tons of turns of different variety instead two huge corners of a nascar track.

[spooln7]

I"m with you on the part, where it would be alot better if it was at a track instead of an oval.

[Octagon]

Two things about Irwindale.

#1 - IT IS NOT A NASCAR TRACK: NASCAR sanctions series at Irwindale, but it does not own the track outright nor is it the big draw at Irwindale. Irwindale is known primarily for it's USAC Silver Crown, Midget, and Sprint races.

#2 - Irwindale is a Short Track: Irwindale is what we call a "big half" meaning it's a 1/2mile oval measured around the inside line. This makes it big for a short track, but still nowhere near superspeedway length. Superspeedways start at a mile in length and keep going up to the massive 2.5mile Indy, Daytona, and Talladega tracks.

Finally, yes it's difficult to book a big name road course. Unless you're tied to a big name respectable road racing series (which fortunately Formula Drift is through its SCCA connection) you're going to be running second tier road courses like Nelsons Ledges and Gingerman. Only through SCCA was Formula Drift even able to consider an event at Road Atlanta.

Realize that the road racing community looks down upon drifting because "It's not real racing. It's just figure skating with cars." Then throw in that there isn't much desire amongst the drifters to play the game, get corporate, and accept that racing is a big money sport and you see that the road courses don't have much of a reason to shelve money-making and crowd pleasing vintage, club, and regional race dates in favor of some noisy messy tunerfest with a bunch of punks sliding Nissans around.

[childprodigy_89]

well i absolutely agree that "drifting" is essentially the figure skating of motorsports and that drift competitions are nothing but stupid stunts to entertain tards who think this is some sort of "sport"

i personally think F1 is probly the most elite motorsport there is, requiring pure speed and no show offy cr@p.

and i intended not disrepect to nascar when i said that. nascar requires the sickest amount of concentration and physical strengh / ability to withstand blistering speeds.

yes i am very articulate

[AlexPfeiffer]

childprodigy_89, If you feel that way then why are you here?

[AlexPfeiffer]

You guys failed to also include 2 main points,

1, american tracks are made for high speed and are very large in compairasent to the tracks in japan.

2, race tracks are usually alot further away.

[Octagon]

Another good point, Alex. Little tracks here in the states are 1.8miles like Gingerman or one of the Buttonwillow loops. Our big track is Road America at Elkhart Lake at a whopping FOUR miles. Only the Nordschleife, Le Mans, and Spa-Francorchamps are longer.

Not to mention our tracks are wide. Laguna Seca is narrow by stateside standards. By comparison, look at some of the tracks in Japan (found this list in an IRL article)

- TI Circuit Aida – It is an 11-turn, 2.314-mile permanent road course with corner names such as Attwood Curve, Redman Corner, Revolver Corner, Mike Knight Corner and Moss “S.” It is located south of Tokyo in the Okayama Prefecture.

- Autopolis – It is a 14-turn, 2.94-mile permanent road course located in the far south in the Oita Prefecture.

- Central Circuit – This track also is in the south of Japan. It is an 11-turn, 1.786-mile permanent road course that actually crosses over itself at one point.

- Ebisu Circuit – Located in the Fukushima Prefecture in central Japan, it is a short 1.288-mile, 11-turn permanent road course.

- Honda Safety & Riding Plaza Kyushu – There are 12 turns in this 1.869-mile road circuit located in Kumamoto Prefecture.

- Inagawa Circuit – This permanent road course has 18 turns in just .638 of a mile. It’s located in the south in Hyogo Prefecture.

- Maze – The full name is Nihonkai Maze Circuit. It is a permanent road course and is 1.25 miles in length, with long straightaways covering half of it. The track is located in the Niigata Prefecture.

- Mine – This permanent road course circuit has 12 turns in its 2.012-mile length. The track is another located in the south in the Nagao Prefecture.

- Nakayama Circuit – Situated in the Okayama Prefecture of south-central Japan, it squeezes 15 turns in a 1.254-mile permanent road course.

- Nasu Motorsports Land – This is another short course permanent road facility located in the Tochigi Prefecture of central Japan. It has 12 turns in .72 of a mile.

- Sendai – Fully named Nishi Sendai Hi-land Raceway, it is an odd-shaped permanent road course that has 16 turns in 3.76 miles. It is located in north of the main island of Honshu.

- Sports & Safety Riding Field Spa Naoiri – This .894-mile, seven-turn track located in the far south prefecture of Ohita has a variety of uses, including auto racing.

- Sugo – Full name is Sugo Land Circuit. It is another track in northern Honshu in the Miyagi Prefecture. It’s 2.336 miles long and has 11 turns.

- Tokachi International Speedway – This 3.08-mile permanent road course is located on the north island of Hokkaido. It has 16 turns.

- Tsukuba Circuit – Ibaragi Prefecture in central Japan is home to this permanent road course. The track is 1.294-miles in length and has 10 turns.

I admit, Nasu intrigues me, as 12 turns in .72 of a mile has got to be fun, but our tracks simply aren't like that nor will they be castrated like that (and risk losing all important race series like Grand-Am, ALMS, CART, IRL, Speed World Challenge, Trans-Am, AGTC, Toyota Atlantic, and Grand Am Cup) for drifting.

[nasty nate 7]

nice one octagon, you said it all... PWNED~!